The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Relief valves may be associated with a fluid conduit of a system to selectively vent a fluid disposed within the conduit. For example, a relief valve may be associated with a conduit of a closed-loop system such as, for example, a refrigeration system that selectively vents a refrigerant disposed within the conduit. The relief valve may selectively vent the conduit when the refrigeration system experiences a fault condition such as, for example, over pressurization. The relief valve may vent such a closed-loop system to allow the refrigerant disposed within the refrigeration system to escape and be directed away from occupants disposed within an area to be heated and/or cooled.
Relief valves are currently implemented in automotive heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to vent refrigerant contained within the automotive HVAC system, should a fault condition arise within the system. The relief valve may be positioned within an engine compartment of a vehicle such that, upon actuation, the relief valve vents the HVAC system and allows the refrigerant to escape into the engine compartment and away from a passenger compartment of the vehicle.
While conventional relief valves have proven to adequately vent refrigerant from closed-loop systems, such relief valves must be in fluid communication with a conduit of the closed-loop system and, therefore, increase the overall number of joints of the system. Increasing the number of joints of the system increases potential leak points and the overall cost of the system.